We couldn't get in our new house for a couple extra weeks so we had to live at my Dad and Step-mom's house. My little sister loved having us to play with every day. This is her "strong man" face.
This is her scary face.
This is what sold me on our house. This kitchen is absolutely awesome.
This is the front room. We have windy stairs. Something Kevin and I have a weakness for when house hunting.
This is the other thing that sold me on the house. The master bath is so big I could do cartwheels in it. I love the huge jetted tub. Over to the right is the extra big shower and behind me is the seperate toilet room.
It was a good time to sell a house in Austin (where the market is sill strong) and buy a house in Michigan (where the market has been weak for over a year) We would have never upgraded otherwise.
Wow, it’s been a while. Merry Christmas everyone!
First off, since everyone has been asking, here is our new address.....
875 Hampton Circle
Rochester Hills, MI 48307
So, I’m in Michigan in my new house sitting in front of the fireplace. My mom came out to Austin to drive back to Michigan with me and Chloe. The drive was long and boring even though my mom and I did a good job of keeping each other occupied. Chloe was such a great traveler. She made the car her home for 2 ½ days. No sleeping pills or a cage for her. She just liked crawling around the car and taking naps in-between me and my mom.
We thought we would get our house the day after I got to Michigan. That didn’t happen. The people took an extra week to get out. The movers had our stuff to move in as soon as I got to Michigan, so we moved ALL of our belongings into my grandmother’s garage until we could get into our house. Then, once we did get the keys (Sunday night), we decided to paint the house and clean during that week (with the help of my dad, cousins and grandfather) and get the moving truck for the following Saturday. Chloe and I stayed at my dad’s house for two weeks (and Kevin would stay once in a while). It was fun. We got to hang out with my little sis, Paige, every day after Tutor Time. I think she liked having me, Kevin and Chloe as upstairs roommates.
The move went well. We had a lot of help. Luckily we got all the furniture in the house before we got 10 inches of snow that night. What a welcome to Michigan huh? Kevin and I have been getting the house together for the past week, and for the most part it is finally done. I was sick for about 5 days last week, so I haven’t been worth much. I had a fever every night and a bad cold for the most part.
I had chemo and my first appointment with my oncologist in Michigan. I like my oncologist (not as much as Dr. Hellerstedt in Austin though but probably because I have a long history with her). The chemo room is not as nice as Texas Oncology, but the staff is nice. They tried to give me too much pre medication before chemo though. I usually get Benadryl and one other drug to not have allergic reactions. They wanted to give me two other anti-nausea medications and steroids. I had to let them know that I do not take any drugs I don’t absolutely need. If I could, I would just do straight chemo. They are cool about it now. I actually have a chemo nurse, Keri, (sp??) who is good friends with my good friend Sarah May. I like her. I hope I have her every week.
My side effects have been getting the best of me lately. Sometimes I wish I could crawl out of my skin and adopt anyone elses. For one, my skin does not heal. If I get a little scrape, my skin is marked for months, and then I will most likely scar. My skin itches like crazy and it irritates me more then anything. My hands are so sore. The pads on my fingertips are close to raw skin. It sucks, because my fingernails were dying a while ago and now with my raw fingertips, I am really limited as to what I can do with my hands. Last thing with my skin is I have patches of red/brown skin on my arms and hand. Guess this is normal for people on Taxol, but it doesn’t help with my already difficult to look good body. I am down to three eyebrow hairs on my right eye now. I have a wedding picture up in the vanity I walk through to get into my bathroom. I look at the picture, admiring how I looked after only one chemo treatment, and then I turn the corner to my bathroom and get a look at myself after 21 chemo treatments and I get depressed. I know I shouldn’t care about looks right now, but I hate how I look sometimes. I had a bad day today, so I’m writing out of frustration.
On a lighter note, my last blood test came back good. It was down to 186. Yeah!! This was the first time under 200. Still have a way to go to get under 30 (which is normal). I haven’t had a scan in a while. I will have a PET scan and a CT scan after the holidays. I’m scared to have these done of course. The oncologists plan to have me quit chemo after my 8th round of treatments. That would be after treatment 24, so I guess I have 3 more. It doesn’t mean I’m cured and the cancer is gone, but it means I need a break and a person can only handle so much chemo.
Thank you to my grandmother for letting us keep our house in her garage for two weeks. Thank you Mark, Sandy, Dad, and Grandpa Joe for painting and helping us get the house ready to move into. Thank you to the rest of the family and friends for helping us move. It made such a huge difference. Especially since I had a fever and couldn't do anything.
Okay everyone. Merry Christmas. Hope everyone has a great holiday, enjoys their company, smiles a lot and takes a lot of pictures of your loved ones. I promise to work on getting this negative attitude out the door. I WILL write soon now that I an finally settled in.
Shannon
No comments:
Post a Comment